Your uniqueness is the key to your success.
Once, you have done the exercise asked in the previous chapter, the next question that will definitely come to your mind is −
Just relax and organize your thoughts and likeness, which will help you to personalize your brand vision. With the following steps, it will be easier for you to create your brand −
Note down your values − It could be anything that gives meaning to your life. Possibly, you are not aware of these values, but in most of your decisions, it plays a big role. For example, your value could be −
Relationships (family, friends)
Community (society)
Intelligence (the work you can perform best)
Hobbies (the work that more often you live to do)
Ambition/Goal (the ultimate destination)
However, this is not the conclusive list, it is just an example. If you correctly note down your values, it will definitely help you develop a successful personal branding strategy.
Prioritize your Values − After listing and categorizing your values, now you need to prioritize them. While prioritizing, take help of your interest, likeness, and even your passion. These will help you prioritize your values.
Identify your Traits − Trait is the most unique feature of your personality. You might not notice, but most of your behavior is guided by your trait. Following are the five most important personality traits −
Conscientiousness − It means, how careful or vigilant you are at your work.
Openness to experience − It means, how open, creative, curious, liberal, aesthetic-minded you are.
Extraversion − It means, you don’t like loneliness rather prefer to remain around people.
Agreeableness − It means, how kind, sympathetic, warm, cooperative, and considerate you are.
Neuroticism − It is a tendency to be in negative emotional state. Normally, this feature is usually discouraged; so, it is good to cure/suppress this kind of trait/symptom.
Discuss your Plan with your Parents, Friends, and Mentor − The last step is to discuss your plan and strategy with those who know and understand you very well.
SWOT is a very effective exercise that is recommended to be done before creating your brand. It will definitely help you in revealing your real picture and accordingly you can create your brand.
Strengths − It is your internal characteristics that helps build competitive advantages. For example, good voice, eloquence, witty demeanor, etc.
Weakness − Interospect yourself and try to find what are the weaknesses within you that might be potential hindrance in a career. For example, fear in public, not able to speak properly in front of people, etc.
Opportunities − Opportunity is an external aspect for which you have to be vigilant; if you are not able to recognize it, definitely you are going to miss on something good. For example, opportunity of a job, opportunity to deal a project, etc.
Threats − It is also an external aspect of your life. Unfortunately, you cannot control your threat, but of course, you can address and mitigate them. For example, sudden rise of your competitor, inability to attend a very crucial meeting, etc.
Some other important points that you need to consider are −
List the people whom you admire
Read their success stories
Learn the lessons these people used for their success
Based on these information, you can correct/improve your strategy.